Rod hanger



Aug. 24, 1937. 1 EATON 2,091,225

ROD HANGER Filed March 28, 1955 3 Sheets-Sheet l a mac nfoz Aug. 24,1937. J. F. EATON 2,091,225

v ROD HANGER Filed March 28, 1935 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Aug. 2 1937UNITED STATES PATENT GEFIQE ROD HANGER Application March 28, 1935,Serial No. 13,568

4 Claims.

The present invention relates to sucker rod hangers of the typeembodying what I term a two step method of handling stands of rod bothduring pulling and running of pump rods of oil 5 wells. Such a system isdisclosed generally in the patent to Tibbetts No. 1,776,605, datedSeptember 23, 1.930, it being the purpose of this invention to provideimprovements of considerable importance therein whereby the operationsabove 1.0 referred to are greatly facilitated and made much more safeboth as regards the equipment and the operators thereof.

The improvements referred to above reside primarily in the transferdevice which is employed '15 for shifting the rod sections or standsthereof from the hoisting elevator to the rod rack or support arrangedin the derrick.

More specifically, my invention comprises a unique brake controlledwinch unit, in combination with a supporting rack, so designedthat itmay be removably associated with a rack which is either removahly orpermanently mounted in the well derrick, and so constructed that saidwinch may automatically sustain a predetermined stand of rod during thetransfer operation but allow unspooling of the line should the weight ofthe entire string of rods, or more than one stand thereof, beaccidentally or otherwise applied, thus preventing overturning of therack if the transfer elevator is not detached when the main elevatorstarts down. For purposes of the description I term this particularfeature of my invention an automatic overload release brake.

A further'object of this feature of the present invention is to provideadjustments for the brake mechanism such that it may be arranged tohandle stands of different lengths according to the height of theparticular derrick, the brake being rendered ineffective automaticallyin any instance where more weight is imposed thereon than that for whichthe device is adjusted, this action being availed of in the setting ofthe rod on the lower hoist elevator preliminarily to unscrewing of thestand. In this manner, the usual cranking of the winch to lower the rodor sections thereof is eliminated.

Another object in view is to provide means for applying full brakingeffort instantly in case of emergency where the adjustment is improperlyset, said means being capable of operation to enable dropping of therods gradually under perfect control of the operator. My invention isfurther distinguished as regards the winch device in respect to itscombination of a suitable gear ratio of the worm gear with a pulleyblock arrangement on the hoisting cable whereby the load on the hoistingcable may drive the winch in reverse when the brake is released or isineffective as to its braking function.

Other and further objects and advantages of the invention will behereinafter set forth and the novel features thereof defined by theappended claims.

In the drawings Fig. 1 is a general view of a derrick having myparticular rod hanger apparatus installed therein;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the rod hanger apparatus aloneassociated with the main hoisting means for the sucker rod;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the winch used in conjunction with thisapparatus;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary plan view of the winch unit, showingparticularly the brake feature thereof; and

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the eccentric supporting pin for thebrake lever.

Like reference characters designate corresponding parts in the severalfigures of the drawings.

The rod handling system The system involved in the use of my inventioncomprises three primary elements: (1) the main elevator hoist; (2) thetransfer device; and (3) the rod rack.

It is believed that the present invention will be more readilyunderstood from a general description of the method employed in handlingof the rod sections and to this end reference is here made particularlyto Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings. The numeral I designates the usual oilwell derrick in which is mounted the main elevator hoist including therod or hoisting line 2 which passes over a sheave on the crown block 3and carries the rod hook 4 adapted to be connected to the main rodelevators 5. Said hoisting line is connected to the main hoist winch 6located adjacent the derrick floor. By means of this main hoistingdevice the sucker rod is raised from the well or run thereinto as thecase may be. In this operation the rod sections '1 are raisedsuccessively, as hereinafter more particularly described, to the heightof the rod rack 8, said sections being then taken one at a time by thetransfer device, forming the special feature of this in vention anddeposited in the rod rack from which they are suspended in groups by theparallel fingers 9 thereof.

The rod rack The rack herein disclosed has a special construction inthat the fingers 9 are arranged in two opposing rows, as clearly seen inFig. 2 of the drawings, at opposite sides of the central slot 8, intowhich slot a guide finger lEl extends longitudinally the full length ofsaid slot. he rod sections may be passed by the transfer device into theslot at one side or the other of this guide finger and moved therealonguntil opposite the proper slot between the fingers 9, when movementtransversely will slide the rod sections into their final seat forsuspension by their upper pin ends, as shown in Fig. 2.

This construction of rack is clearly advantagcous for a number ofreasons, but since it forms the subject matter of a separate patent, No.2,032,530, in which it is properly claimed, it sufiices to indicate hereonly generally its co-operative action with the transfer device later tobe specifically set forth.

It should be understood that the rack 8 is sus pended in the derrick bymeans of suitable bails H, as shown in Fig. 2, at a position about threefeet higher than the rod board l2 so that the rack and controls may beconveniently operated by a man standing on said board. The height of therack and board above the derrick floor depends upon the number of jointsto each stand of rods to be pulled, which in turn depends upon theheight of the derrick. These stands usually are composed of two, threeand four twenty-five foot joints respectively. The rack is ordinarilypositioned several feet higher than the length of stand being pulled sothat the lower ends of the stands will be slightly above the top of thebell nipple on the pump T.

It is here noted that this rack may be either permanently a part of thederrick construction and thereby fixedly secured in the derrick or, froma standpoint of economy, it may consist of a removable unit which may bemoved from one derrick to another when it is desired for pulling therods of a particular oil well. When in its portable form as hereinillustrated, it is preferably connected to the derrick legs by suitabletie-back chains 53 which, of course, leaves it free to tilt, for whichreason it is highly important that the transfer of the stand of rodsfrom the main hoisting elevators to the rack should be efficiently andsafely carried out.

Transfer device The transfer operation referred to above is somewhatcomplicated by the fact that the main elevators hold the rod at thefillet under the upset, which is the most logical point, leaving theshoulder above the wrench-square as the only point at which to attachthe engaging means of the transfer device, said device comprising anelevat-or winch, hoisting means and brake means as now to be described.

Passing now to Figs. 3 and 4 of the drawings, the most practicaltransfer device includes a small winch generally referred to in Fig. 2by the reference numeral 54. This device is composed of a casting 55formed at one end with a dovetailed recess E6 to receive acorrespondingly shaped horizontal projection H on one end of the rack 8.The winch is secured upon this interlocking connection by means of a setscrew i8. Journalled in the casting l is a shaft l8 upon which ismounted a drum 20 for a small wire hoist 75 cable 2| which extends fromthe drum over the double blocks 22 suspended from the top of the derrickby the supporting wires 23. It is, of course, to be understood that asingle pulley block arrangement may be employed, but for reasons hereingiven I prefer the double. A transfer elevator 23 is suspended from thelower double block 22 and this elevator is adapted to grip or engage therod around the wrench-square thereof. Reeling the cable 2| on or off itsdrum enables the rods to be taken from the main hoist elevator when thelatter is raised to a point near the winch and its. supporting rack 8.

Actuation of the drum 2!! for elevating purposes is produced by animportant arrangement of gearing now to be described. At its outer end,there is mounted upon the shaft E9 a worm gear 2 3 which meshes with aworm 25 on the crank shaft 25 above the shaft iii. A handle crank 21 ispivotally secured to a sleeve 28 loosely mounted on the crank shaft 26,said sleeve being removably held on the shaft by a collar 29 pinned tosaid shaft. Intermediate the sleeve 28 and the end of the casting I5 isfixedly mounted a small brake drum 3D, the outer flange of which isprovided with suitable openings 3! in which to engage a pin or stud 32carried by the crank handle. By compressing the spring 33 intermediatethe crank 52? and the lug 34 of the sleeve 28, the crank handle may beinterlocked with the brake drum and rotation imparted thereto which istransmittcd through the gearing to the cable drum 20 for reeling ontothe same the cable 2i. This effects elevation of the transfer elevatorin an obvious manner. When the operator releases the handle it willswing automatically on its pivot out of engagement with the drum and thecontrol of the same is then taken over by the brake means.

Before describing this last named means, it is desirable to note thatthe brake drum is purposefully placed on the worm shaft 26 instead ofupon the worm gear shaft l9, because of the fact that a small brake onlyis required due to the rotation of the drum through the gears. The wormgear ratio employed is preferably low, approximately only 5 to 1, inorder that the load on the hoisting cable 2i of the winch may drive thewinch in reverse when the brake is released or becomes inefiective. If ahigh ratio were utilized, it will be obvious that a brake would not benecessary, but the load would not unwind the cable, and the mainpurposes of this invention under such conditions would thus be defeated.Actually a gear ratio of or 12 to 1 is necessary to lift the maximumrequired load of about 240 pounds, but I secure this additional leverageby the double pulley block arrangement on the hoisting cable 2! whichmultiplies the 5 to 1 gear ratio to 10 to 1.

It is important to note that I am able, by this arrangement, to takeadvantage of the load operation of the hoisting cable in order toeliminate hand cranking when it is desired to lower the load and inorder that an overload can be made to unspool the line to preventpossible overturning of the rack 8. With this brake drum I employ aspecial form of brake which will hold only a certain load and will slipwhen a greater load is applied to the hoisting line of the winch drum.

Specifically, the brake mechanism comprises the brake shoe 35 with asuitable friction lining 36 pivotally connected to the lower end of theextension arm 37 of a brake lever 38, in turn mounted upon the eccentrichead 39 of the supporting pin. ill rotatably carried by the bracket llof the casting l5. This pin is shown in detail in Fig. 6 of the drawingsand is formed with a grooved end to facilitate its adjustment, said pinbeing held at its adjusted position by means of a set screw 42.

Referring to Fig. 4, it will be apparent that the most effective brakingeffort is attained when the center line through the brake lever pin 40and brake shoe pin 63 approaches perpendicular. When the eccentric brakelever pin is revolved to the adjustment which may be desired so that itscenter line is at an angle to the drum, however, the braking effort isdecreased, as this angle increases, finally becoming zero when thecenter line becomes tangent to the drum. Pressure to the right on thehandle 38 applies full braking effort at any brake adjustment, in caseof emergency or enables full control of the brake and the operation ofthe winch drum when lowering the load under the control of the operator.

The normal application of brake pressure is produced by means of theadjusting rod M which is threaded to receive the intermediate adjustingnut 45 and the end adjusting nut 45. This rod passes through an angleplate 4i and carries an inner expansion spring ,8 and an outer expansionspring 39 bearing against the plate and the respective nuts. The spring48 applies pressure to thebrake shoe in a line transverse to the axis ofthe brake drum, while the spring 49 tends to remove pressure therefromand is designed to render the manual operation of the brake lever easyand quick. Movement of the handle 38 to the right compresses the spring49 and allows instant braking eifort to be exerted. Now by an adjustmentof the nuts referred to the brakeshoe is provided with a sufficientpressure to hold only one stand of rods but if a greater load than thatof one stand is imposed on the transfer hoist line 2|, the brake willnot hold and the line will run in reverse or unspool. Of course, whenthe length of the rod stands is modified, as hereinbefore set forth, totake care of a stand composed of a greater or less number of rodsections, the eccentric pin to must be adjusted accordingly to changewhat I term the angle of attack of the brake lever to the brakingsurface of the drum.

Operation of rod hanger apparatus With the hanger properly installed inthe derrick, the operation of pulling and running rods according to thepresent invention Will now be described. It may be stated that onceinstalled, the operation of both portable and permanent hanger apparatusis identical.

After removal of polish rod and pony rods, not shown, the main hoistingelevator is attached to the first sucker rod section in the conventionalmanner. The hook is then attached to this elevator and the string ofrods lifted until the number of joints equivalent to one stand has beenremoved from the tubing, at which point the hoisting elevator should beat approximately the same level as the rack 3 of the hanger in thederrick. The number of joints per stand depends upon the height of thederrick, as previously described. The man on the rod board now attachesthe transfer elevator 23 to the wrench-square of the pin end above thehoisting elevator. At the same time, the operator on derrick floor snapsa second hoisting elevator on the rods below the joint to be broken, andthe string is then lowered until the weight of the rods in the tubing issupported by the lower elevator resting on the bell nipple. In thislowering action the brake of the winch of the transupper'hoistingelevator 5.

fer device is ineffective because of the fact that the load of the rodis greater than that for which the brake is adjusted to sustain.

During this lowering action of the string, the operator on the rod-boardmust adjust the height of the transfer elevator so that will support theweight of the stand'of rods in the derrick to prevent buckling when therod section remaining in the tubing comes to rest on the elevator.

With the-transfer elevator carrying the weight of the stand, the derrickoperator unlatches the This free elevator then starts downward, and thewrench man on the derrick floor begins to unscrew the joint. The jointis completely unscrewed before the rod hook and empty elevator havereached the floor. While the stand is being unscrewed, the transferelevator carries the weight of stand and the ball thrust bearing in theelevator allows easy rotation of the stand.

During unscrewing, the derrick operator throws a slight tension in thestand by taking up on the transfer elevator line 2! with the winch,which tension causes the box or coupling on the lower end of the standto lift clear of the pin as soon as the joint is unscrewed. The derrickoperator is now ready to lift the stand and to set it in the rack. Whilethe stand is being racked, the wrench man attaches the rod hook to thelower elevator 5 and another stand is then pulled out of the tubing. Bythe time the first stand has been racked and the transfer elevatorremoved, the hoisting elevator carrying the second stand has reached thelevel of the rack, and the derrick operator then attaches the transferelevator 23' to it. The operations are then repeated. An experienced rodcrew can so synchronize the steps outlined above that practically notime is lost.

By virtue of the use of my automatic overload release brake in the winchdevice, the transfer elevator may be attached to the rods when thehoisting elevator is at or near its maximum height, and before it dropsback to set the rods on the lower elevator. All slack may be quicklyremoved from the line and the weight of the full string allowed tounwind the winch until the bottom joint touches the elevator. The winchwill then be automatically set to support the weight of the stand in thederrick and all danger of buckling eliminated. The derrick operator neednot bother about adjusting the height of the transfer elevator and hasonly to lift the stand to a position from which it may be decsitedquickly by merely releasing the brake and without cranking.

Since the derrick operator knows the order in which the rods were set inthe rack, they may be taken out and run in in the same order, or in adiiferent order if desired. The operation of running in the rod is theexact reverse of the pulling order and for this reason it is unnecessaryto describe the use of this apparatus for such particular purpose.

Many advantages accrue from the use of this apparatus, such as theprevention of injury to rod joints, reduction of engine, clutch and beltwear, loss of time required to pull and run rods, elimination of dangerof kinking rods, and others.

1. In a rod hanger apparatus for oil well derricks, the combination of arod rack, a rod handling device coacting with said rack and comprising awinch device including a cable drum, a drum shaft, a crank shaft gearedto said drum shaft, a brake drum on said crank shaft, brake meanscoacting with said brake drum and normally engaging the drum andpermitting free movement of the cable drum in one direction, said brakemeans being automatically effective to hold said cable drum againstmovement in the reverse direction, means for tensioning the brake tonormally hold it in brake relation to the brake drum for a predeterminedload and permitting unwinding of the drum for a greater load, andseparate means for adjusting the brake means to increase or decrease itseffective braking effort under control of said tensioning means.

2. In a rod hanger apparatus for oil Well derricks, the combination of arod rack, a rod handling device coacting with said rack and comprising awinch device including a cable drum, a drum shaft, a crank shaft gearedto said drum shaft, a brake drum on said crank shaft, a brake shoecoacting with said brake drum, means for sustaining said shoe in brakingposition against the drum, means for adjusting the angular relationshipof the brake sustaining means to control the angle of attack of thebrake sustaining means, and seperate tension means effectivetransversely of the sustaining means to maintain normal braking efforton the shoe.

3. In a rod hanger apparatus for oil well derricks, the combination of arod rack, a rod handling device coacting with said rack and comprising awinch device including a cable drum, a drum shaft, a crank shaft gearedto said drum shaft, a brake drum on said crank shaft, a brake shoecoacting with said brake drum, a lever pivotally connected to the brakeshoe for supporting the shoe in contact with the brake drum, and tensionmeans for shifting the lever transversely of the drum axis to controlthe normal braking effort expressed on said drum.

4. In a rod hanger apparatus for oil well derricks, the combination of arod rack, a rod handling device coacting with said rack and comprising awinch device including a cable drum, a drum shaft, a crank shaft gearedto said drum shaft, a brake drum on said crank shaft, a brake shoecoacting with said brake drum, a brake lever eccentrically mounted onthe winch to which lever the brake shoe is pivotally attached, saidlever being freely shiftable to clamp the shoe more or less against thebrake, the eccentric mounting of said lever being adjustable to changethe angle of attack of the brake lever, and tension means coacting withthe lever and shoe, tending to hold the brake effectively against thebrake drum in the various adjustments of the brake lever.

JOHN F. EATONv

